Collecting dust no more

PATTERSON TWP. -- That potty chair in the back room. Those crutches standing with the tools in the shed. The wheelchair in the garage with tubes and masks, still wrapped, stacked on its seat.

Paramedic David McCormick sees it all, all too often -- medical equipment and supplies, lifelines in illness and injury, relegated to stuff, collecting dust.

But not so much anymore if Recycled Mobility Products Inc., a new non-profit corporation, does what the co-founders, he and his wife, Amy, hope it will do: provide free, gently used and refurbished medical equipment and supplies to area people who need it.

McCormick's idea is based on supply and demand. The Patterson Township residents' goal is to link the two.

"What are we going to do with this?" patients or their family members usually ask when they no longer need the durable equipment -- a hospital bed, walker, wheelchair. potty chair, shower chair, lifts, ramps, breathing supplies.

McCormick's answer: Contact Recycled Moblity Products via phone, e-mail or come to a scheduled event, such as the one at outside Walmart in Chippewa Township from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

And if you need any of those items -- because you don't have health insurance, because insurance or Medicare won't cover the cost, because you can't afford it, do the same.

"People who have this equipment hold onto it and don't throw it away because they know it's valuable," McCormick, 52, said. "They know what it is like for them to get it, and they want to help somebody else."

After 18 months of planning, the nonprofit organization was incorporated in May. The McCormicks put up an unspecified amount of seed money for the venture.

Since then, the McCormicks and their friends, volunteers Michael Stanford of Vanport Township, an emergency medical technician, and Keith Batchelor of Hopewell Township, a paramedic, have been collecting items and contacting area churches, nursing homes, and other organizations.

At the first event at Walmart on Aug. 27, donors brought about 40 items, including eight walkers, four wheelchairs and a pile of respiratory items, all stacked in McCormicks' garage. Cash donations totaled $80.

McCormick and the volunteers will sort, decontaminate, repair or refurbish each. Items that can't be used will be taken apart and recycled. So far, the company's recycling efforts have garnered $52.75, McCormick said.

Immediate plans are to find a building to house the items, which will also be where people who need the equipment come. Until then, McCormick said the volunteers will continue to pick up the items from donors and deliver them, if necessary.

Within three years, McCormick said, he hopes to make his volunteer work as chairman a full-time paid position, and within five years to hire additional employees.

McCormick, Stanford and Batchelor are employed by Medic Rescue, an emergency medical service based in Bridgewater.

"The biggest thing is that we provide an alternative means for people to get stuff," McCormick said. "By all means, if you can get it through Medicare, we want them to get it through Medicare. If they can get it through insurance, we want them to go through insurance."

And now those who have neither and meet federal HUD residency guidelines, have this nonprofit organization as an option.

(More information about Recycled Mobility Products Inc. and a schedule is available by calling (724) 846-8800, on its website at www.recycledmobilityproducts.org or by e-mail at dmccormick@recycledmobilityproducts.org.)

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